City bureaus report wildfire damage to utilities, roads and parks; committee approves undergrounding criteria amendment and orders quarterly recovery reports

The Los Angeles City ad hoc committee for LA Recovery heard multi‑agency updates on infrastructure damaged by the January wildfires and approved an amendment to undergrounding criteria while directing quarterly recovery reporting to the council.

Councilwoman Tracy Park, chair of the committee, asked department representatives to keep their presentations brief. Department updates covered sewer and storm systems, tree removal and parkway cleanup, bulkhead and roadway damage, streetlight and power pole assessments, park and recreation facility losses, traffic control damage, and water‑system testing.

Los Angeles Sanitation and Environment reported that conveyance crews inspected sewer and storm lines in the Palisades burn area and engaged emergency contractors for repairs. The bureau said staff completed inspections of about 46 percent of roughly 69 miles of sewer line in the Palisades sector and that contractors had repaired approximately 250 feet of sewer pipe and 570 feet of stormwater pipe. Sanitation reported cleaning 14 debris basins and removing about 3,300 cubic yards of debris; the bureau estimated the cost of impacts to sewer and stormwater infrastructure at about $16,700,000 and said it will seek state and federal reimbursement. "The estimated cost of the impacts to sanitation's sewer and stormwater infrastructure is approximately $16,700,000," the bureau stated.

StreetsLA reported assessments for public‑right‑of‑way trees in the burn area. Of roughly 4,483 street trees in the affected Palisades zone, urban forestry surveys identified 371 trees needing removal, 23 percent needing fire‑related pruning and 172 stumps for removal. StreetsLA said contractors have begun tree work (32 trees trimmed and 35 removed so far) and are providing permit fee and clearance exemptions for like‑for‑like or 10 percent‑threshold rebuilds. The bureau is also supporting debris‑flow protections with more than 10,000 linear feet each of k‑rail and sandbags deployed in the area.

The Bureau of Engineering said structural teams inspected bridges, tunnels and bulkheads; of 19 bulkheads assessed 11 need repairs and work on four is in construction. BOE described a landslide at Positano that required Army Corps clearance for access; BOE plans to install a protective structure at the base of that slide and undertake repairs at the top of the slope before reopening the roadway.

The Bureau of Street Lighting reported that a consultant assessment increased its estimate of damaged streetlight poles from 488 to about 574 poles recommended for replacement because of heat damage and loss of material integrity. The bureau said many poles and handholes showed melted insulation and baked wiring; crews have installed roughly 44 temporary solar lights to provide targeted lighting in some areas.

Recreation and Parks said the Palisades recreation center building, tennis courts and a maintenance building were lost to fire; BOE provided a site assessment estimating replacement at roughly $30 million to $50 million. Rec and Parks also reported playground sand testing for multiple parks; preliminary results found no contaminants in tested sand samples.

The Department of Transportation reported preliminary damage to traffic control equipment: 37 locations damaged by fire and 18 by wind, plus signage and parking meter losses. The Department of Water and Power reported widespread outages during the incident affecting roughly 35,000 to 40,000 customers and a power‑side assessment of about 2,500 poles inspected: 753 permanently damaged, 330 partially damaged and 1,200 showing no visual damage but pending further assessment. DWP said crews have completed about 1,300 power‑pole jobs, replaced 33 overhead transformers and 6 underground transformers, and replaced large stretches of conductor and underground cable; it also has about 11,000 feet of underground conduit in design for undergrounding work. On the water side, DWP reported an estimated $15.6 million in physical damage, more than 470 water‑quality samples taken, a do‑not‑drink order initially issued 01/10/2025 and lifted in stages (02/25/2025 for some sections, 03/07/2025 for the remainder). DWP noted about 4,700 water service shutoffs that were performed during the incident and that San Yanez Reservoir filling was paused pending dive inspection.

Committee action and direction

The committee approved an amendment to item 8, proposed by Council Member Rodriguez, to add criteria prioritizing areas for undergrounding including very high fire hazard severity zones, high wind areas and proximity to generating stations and to add a bullet directing community benefits where undergrounding is infeasible (weed abatement, brush clearance, park space and walking trails). The committee approved that amendment on a 4‑0 roll call (Council Member Nazarian absent at the vote).

The committee also approved consent items 5 through 7 on a 4‑0 vote (Nazarian absent). Later, after discussion, the chair instructed Public Works bureaus, GSD and LADWP, in coordination with Emergency Management, to provide quarterly recovery reports tied to council file 25‑0006‑S8; that motion was seconded and approved 5‑0. The quarterly reports should include progress on Palisades road reopenings, Palisades Recreation Center and library replacement cost estimates, tree removal/pruning and median/parkway debris clearance, and a fuller assessment of long‑term recovery needs.

Committee members asked for follow‑up on several items: LASAN was asked to publish the pool‑draining web link and mosquito protocol; StreetsLA was asked for enforcement data and to confirm FEMA reimbursement eligibility for curb ramps; BOE and StreetsLA were asked to coordinate on sequencing of trenching and resurfacing; BOE and DWP were asked to provide updates on landslide repairs and undergrounding designs; Rec and Parks will share playground sand test results; and DWP will report back on the San Yanez Reservoir investigation.

The chair continued remaining agenda items to the next meeting; bureaus were directed to return with the requested quarterly reports and updates.